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She smiled. “Thanks, babe.”

The pet name ran down my spine like a touch, making my dragon purr. Harley’s eyes sparkled. She knew exactly what she was doing to me. I caught her mouth in a quick, heated kiss.

“Ew!” Dylan shouted as he came down the stairs. “You guys are always doing that in front of me. Quit it.”

Harley laughed. “Good morning to you, too.” She winked at me, then grabbed her coffee and laptop and headed onto the deck to work in the morning sunshine.

“What’s for breakfast?” Dylan asked. His hair was a wild mess, but his eyes were bright and awake. My dragon could sense Dylan’s, wide awake and close to the surface.

“Eggs? Toast? Sausage?” I looked in the fridge. “Leftover pizza?”

“Pizza!” Dylan shouted.

“Of course, my liege,” I said with a laugh.

As I slid the pizza onto a sheet pan to reheat in the oven, my phone started ringing. I stuck the phone between my ear and shoulder. “’Lo?”

“Ace, we’ve got a problem.” Striker’s voice was low and furious.

My stomach dropped. Of course some bullshit had to happen the same day as Dylan’s introduction to the clan. “What is it?”

“I’m at the border. We’ve got two dead dragons here.”

My stomach sank even further. “Ours?”

“No. Clanless, as far as I can tell. They attacked me.”

“I’m on my way.”

I hung up. I turned off the oven and left the cold pizza on the stove. Dylan blinked at me. “You’re leaving?”

“Yup.” I pulled him into a headlock, and Dylan let out a shriek of laughter as I rubbed my knuckles against the crown of his head. “You’ll survive with cold pizza.”

“I will, I will! Ahhh, stop!” Dylan laughed wildly.

I let him go with a big smile. I didn’t feel as happy as I looked, but I didn’t want Dylan to worry. He was already nervous enough about meeting the clan. “Just a quick errand. I’ll be back before tonight so we can get ready for the party, okay?”

“Okay.” Dylan looked a little disappointed as he grabbed a slice of pizza. “Don’t take too long, though.”

“I won’t.” I stepped out onto the deck. Harley’s gaze flickered up, and something in my face made her expression drop.

“I’ve gotta run out, but I’ll be back in a few hours,” I said.

She sighed. “Work?”

“Yeah,” I said. She didn’t ask for details, and I didn’t explain.

This was exactly the kind of work she wanted me to stop doing. Right now, it was the kind of work I had to handle before it got worse. I wished I could tell her it wouldn’t—that the clan was going completely legitimate with the distillery—but I wanted everything to be open and confirmed, first. I didn’t want to make more promises I couldn’t keep.

I leaned down and pressed my face into the curve of her neck. She smelled sweet there, the natural scent of her skin and the soap from last night’s shower. It calmed the worst of my nerves, but at the same time, it made me even more reluctant to leave.

“Be careful, okay?” Her voice was soft and resigned.

“I will,” I promised.

That’s all I could say. It’s the only thing I could promise.

I jumped on my bike outside the house and rode to the storage warehouse we managed near the border. It was a transport stop more than anything else. Michel used it as brief storage once goods came across the border, thanks to the border control agents on our payroll. The warehouse was small and dilapidated, tucked in at the back of an old scrapyard. I drove down the dusty gravel road, past rusting cars, and pulled up to the warehouse.